Week 10 - Purposeful Meandering around Oz

Broome – Eighty Mile Beach

Kilometres          12338 – 13592 km

We started the week with an early morning cruise through Geikie Gorge just outside Fitzroy Crossing. The normally fast flowing Fitzroy River slows to a trickle in the dry season except for an 18km section of pondage where we saw some towering cliff walls and amazing wildlife which included a few freshwater crocodiles….. After the cruise our plans were to head west towards Tunnel Creek and onto Windjana Gorge where we’d spend a night camping. However, after 20km of worsening corrugated dirt road we err’d on the side of caution and turned the van around and headed back to the black-top where we cooked up option B…. Broome here we come. It meant a few hours longer in the car but by late afternoon we arrived in Broome. The first thing we noticed was the change in the weather. The dry heat we’d been experiencing had gone, replaced by lower temps but higher humidity and it wasn’t enjoyable.

Cable Beach

Tuesday was a day to catch up on things, we needed to wash, we needed food and fuel and we needed to relax. I don’t think they happened in that order but having picked a caravan park by the beach, the first thing we did was check out the beautiful Cable Beach. The turquoise water and white sands dotted with beach umbrellas and beach chairs is so postcard material. Before too long the day had gotten away from us but did get most things done. Just on sunset and with our arrival in Broome perfectly fluked to coincide with the phenomenon known as “Staircase to the Moon”  we headed to Roebuck Bay to watch the moon rise over the sand flats. We were amongst thousands of tourists and locals who watch this amazing spectacle, which literally only lasted for 15min each night.

Staircase to the Moon

Wednesday started with 80% humidity, warm temperatures and not a cloud in the sky. Sitting in the shade we quickly began to perspire so we soon found ourselves at the pool where we spent much of the morning. After an early lunch we headed out to do a bit of sightseeing of Broome. We soon found that Broome has a bit of everything and a lot of nothing to the point it has a jail in the main street of town where the inmates can be heard yelling over the fence as people walk by…. After lunch as the tide went out we headed out to check out the dinosaur footprints which can be found at Gantheaume Point. Returning to Cable Beach we had a sunset camel ride along the beach. With the sun setting on one side of us and the nudists on the other we rode our camels for an hour along the beach. It was a beautiful way to watch the sunset.

Sunset Camel Ride

On Thursday we had a lazy morning around the van. Leonie headed out for coffee and a catch-up call with her girlfriends while the kids &  I lazed by the pool. Later in the day we headed to the Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Park where we got up close n personal with crocodiles of all sizes. The kids each held a small salty while our tour guide showed us just how aggressive crocs can be at feeding time. It’s a bit freaky to be standing less than a metre from these animals as they attack their food and one-another….. To complete our day/night we headed out to watch the “staircase to the moon” phenomenon again while the moon and tides aligned. Viewing it from a different location and with complete darkness was equally as impressive as our first experience.

Feeding time - Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Park

On Friday the car was booked in for an early morning service so I combined this with a super early morning walk out to the Dutch Seaplane wrecks which are only visible on the mudflats of Roebuck Bay at dead low tides. These planes which are rusting relics of WWII are another reminder of when the war impacted on Broome. The ocean has all-but covered and broken up these planes and the story that accompanies these planes is amazing…. Riding back to the van, we spent much of our day lazing by the pool as the temperatures soared into the high 30’s. By late afternoon we’d got the car back and were soon heading down onto Cable Beach to enjoy dinner and a few drinks as the sun set over the ocean.

Rusting seaplanes off Broome

Saturday was another hot day and one that would have been better spent by the pool but we had too much to do. We checked out the local weekend markets which weren’t too bad, but sounded terrible as 10 badly out-of-tune buskers all sang their own unique tones. We re-stocked the cupboards in preparation of moving south tomorrow. We finished our sightseeing of Broome with a tour of the Pearl Luggers museum where we learned the history of pearl diving in Broome….. As a bonus Ethan and Dave got to sit and watch their first taste of rugby league in 7 weeks.

Now that's heavy

We ended the week by spending Sunday on the road. Packing up early from Broome we started what will be a long trek down the coast of WA. For us the first stage was a 350km drive to Eighty Mile Beach. It wasn’t an ideal driving day as the temperature soared. The car said the outside temp was 41deg, our hottest for the trip. Thankfully by the time we reached the seaside Caravan Park a cool breeze had dropped the temp by a few degrees…. After setting up we did our best to stay out of the heat and replenish any lost fluids using the philosophy “it must be 5 o’clock somewhere” approach. We finished another week on the road by taking a leisurely stroll along the beach and a BBQ under the stars.